Panel to look into medical referral woes in Manila

The House Committee on Health and Welfare is set to hold a hearing today to shed light on reported problems facing medical referral patients in Manila.

“We want to know what’s going on. We received information about the lack of adequate services to our patients there,” said committee chair Rep. Crispin Ogo.

The NMI Retirement Fund’s third party administrator for group health insurance, Hawaii Pacific Medical Referral, terminated its services in Manila, through StayWell, effective Feb. 1. This was due to the Fund’s lack of assurance at that time that HPMR’s contract would be further extended up to end of May this year.

Ogo has asked Public Health officials to make a presentation today on the current arrangement for CNMI patients who referred to the Philippines for treatment.

The House leadership supports the creation of a Manila Liaison Office primarily to assist CNMI patients.

In a special committee report issued last year, Rep. Clyde Norita said that “it is prime time” to look at an alternative for referral of Commonwealth patients in view of complaints by residents against the Hawaii Liaison Office operations.

“The committee urges the Legislature to support the reopening of the Manila Liaison office by providing funding,” said Norita’s panel.

Although no grave violations of policies at HLO was established, Norita’s committee recommended that an alternate office must be set up to mitigate costs.

Norita’s panel said that Hawaii’s office caters to some 130 patients each year from the CNMI.

“The cost to operate the office can be drastically reduced if patients who are not qualified for Medicaid [are] referred to the Philippines,” he said, noting that this idea is consistent with the proposed reopening of the Manila Liaison Office.

Despite various efforts to resurrect the Manila office, no concrete action has taken place so far.

In late 2002, the Department of Public Health issued a request for proposal seeking private vendors to facilitate the treatment of CNMI patients in the Philippines but this did not materialize.

At the same time, the department had wanted to forge medical referral agreements with Philippine hospitals, particularly the newly opened Asian Hospital in Alabang.

The department said this was consistent with its thrust to focus its referral program to regional facilities, primarily hospitals in Manila, to save on cost.

Philippine health care cost is about a fifth of the average price in Hawaii, authorities said.

The CNMI government had closed its Manila Liaison Office in September 2000, citing serious financial conditions.

MLO was originally set up in October 1994 as part of a memorandum of understanding between the two governments concerning CNMI-bound workers.

The office, which had two employees just before the termination, received a budget of $65,000.

At one time, it employed as much as 10 people who were under professional service contracts. It also acted as liaison for medical referrals in the Philippines.